Tarting up a house to sell it

To get top whack (I assume that's what you're after, I have no idea of local property prices), the house has to be in top condition. Excellent, neutral decor ( this is essential, strong colours do NOT sell!) good doors, windows, kitchen and bathrooms.
Your kitchen looks ok, but a bit dated, the red carpet with matching wall paper has to go.
If its not got double glazing, or needs any other work doing to bring up to completely modern standards, I'm afraid that any buyer is going to reduce their valuation (and that's the important one) by that amount.

The house looks lovely. I wish you could buy one like that round here for similar money.

We had our house on the market for months last year without a serious offer. We took it off, tidied it up, gave it a lick of paint and knocked £10k off the asking and it sold to the first viewers this year.

Don't spend too much, don't mess with the original features, and get lots of decent shots. Another tip I was given was don't put a floorplan on the particulars, as people will identify problems before they see the house which might not matter when they see it in the flesh.

I'd echo the paler neutral colours over the dark red. And also the point about more photographs, I tend to assume that something is not been shown for a reason.

I'd be looking for as double garage at that price point / house size. Even in preference to an en-suite. IMV two bathrooms is better / more flexible than bathroom plus en-suite. I'd also be looking at less fussy garden, but again that's just my preference.

All buyers are different so you won't please all. But generally the pale neutral colurs will give a more up to date look and go down well with most.

Don't know pricing for your area, it may be a little over but....

I'd be making you an offer discounting the cost of a new bathroom and maybe a new kitchen.

this is why you need a little wiggle room. Price it at the approprite sale value for current condition / what needs work, and people still want to knock the cost of anything they want to do off. Same with selling second hand cars, some people want money off for everything that's not 100% perfect. If it was 100% perfect the asking would be more! But equally it needs to be low enough to get people through the door. Hard balancing act.

Not sure if it's zoopla or your advert but the internet ad comes across a bit cheap and doesn't give a great impression of the place.

I'd suggest getting it off the market for a bit and trying an agent who can actually get viewers through the door, and is a bit more proactive in the advert department. And tidy the rooms before taking photos.

I'm probably biased by my experience, but we spent some time talking to five or six agents and went with the more expensive ones because their sample brochures looked great. When is went on the market we sold within a week. Ymmv of course.

Personally wish yor property was in my area as I would snap it up.
Yes the interior is a little dated and takin the red carpet up would be a plus.
You havent said are you gettin plenty through the door with no offers or nobody through the door?

People are looking at that ad and thinking "good size, nice house but needs work". They are then working out and mentally pricing up what needs doing to make the house what they want, this will include

- knocking down walls to make a large family kitchen with room for a table and then installing a new kitchen
- making at least one on-suite
- installing double glazing

They need a floor plan to do this. Some pics of the upstairs are also essential.

Your house needs to be priced such that this work can be done and leave £10k spare to its ultimate value if this was done to tempt people with the hassle. It also needs to be £10k - £50k less than similar houses in the area, depending on how busy that main road is.

A bit of tarting up wont change this so I'd keep your money. It won't change the 3 big things that need doing which are driving the price and it won't get people in the door as nothing is going to stop it looking like a project and projects are all about price and potential.

Also, is it on right move? It needs to be. Right move generates about 80% of the viewings for a house such as this which will most likely be bought by a young family. Zoopla is shit.

My experience of house buyers is that many will be put off by anything that needs doing to a house, even if it is priced to include the work - and that even includes stuff that can be fixed in a day, like carpets. Many people just want to move into the finished product, superficial as that is.

I think the back garden area looks cracking, the front is a bit dull and dark looking in comparison, so might be best to either prettify the front - maybe move some pots and plants round, perhaps even thin out the trees on the left looking in, or make the first picture on the slideshow the 'Sky News' shot.

Don't know how busy the road is, but I assume it will put some people off regardless of what you do to mitigate that.

Agree that without pics of bedrooms, you're going to put off viewers.

Kitchen looks fine to me, perhaps a bit small for property of that size, bathroom seems OK as well. Not much you can do to improve them, anyhow.

When I prepared my previous house for sale I bought a book on how to tart a house up (can't remember which one)but it was full of good advice and things that I wouldn't have thought of. Each time I i did a bit of tarting up i got the house revalued and the asking price kept going up. When I eventually put it on the market it sold quite quickly, so my advice would be to get a good book on the subject....

Some people really can't see past the dated decor, so you have a choice...you HOPE that someone comes along and find that the house ticks enough boxes and can see past the decor. Or, you do a drastic makeover, which virtually involves moving out.

I reckon if you do the following, allowing £10k spend, you will not only sell the house, but also get about £20k more than you will at present.

All you have to do is basically put all but essential items in storage, strip out all old fixtures and fittings, redec, re carpet get a few focal points sorted and hire some nice quality furniture for a month.

House looks nice, take it 50 miles south and you could probably charge double. Its location, location, location.
Family home - so schools always going to be a big factor. Can't change that.
Plus you are overlooked at the back - again can't change.

So I would not spend any money on it as you are going to have to compete on price.

I reckon if you do the following, allowing £10k spend, you will not only sell the house, but also get about £20k more than you will at present.

I'd disagree with that. Your layout is very old fashioned, the windows need doing and a £10k makeover isn't going to change either issues; you will be throwing good money after bad.

If you don't need to move then I'd stay and do the work yourself. Spend ~£30-50k on a complete refurb, make the place a nice modern house, neutral colours, modern layout, new kitchen, energy efficient. It will then sell quickly when you choose to move.

If you do want/need to move now then drop the price and get rid. Re-advertise with a better agent, on right move, and emphasise the potential of the house. The size of the thing will be enough to sell it to someone who wants a project and these people do exist but they are very price savy.

Funny how people view things differently, me and my Mrs are classic examples, I head for the garden, garage and distance to the nearest decent pub, while my Mrs, hits the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

I would not be put off by the decor either, as it looks like its been well looked after and changing it would not be an issue.

For me the garden is the big attraction, its beautifully planted, good use of the space and all the features blend well, you can tell its been well loved and would be a great place to sit out, as long as the photographs don't hide a glaring issue.

The only thing I would do is add more photographs of the bedrooms and any other rooms that have been missed out.

mid 30s folk starting a young family - ill bet the size of the garden is a downside for most. They will be baulking at the time taken to look after it ill bet - its a comment most of my friends who are probably your target market make when they come to my gaff "how can you be bothered looking after a garden this size" (it doesnt take long , the key is doing a little each week instead of letting it get out of hand)

And mines nothing compared to that plot - which by the way i think is the major selling point of your house , the garden is lovely multi use space

What is your location like ? proximity to the road puts me off , the fact its been on the market for so long puts me off , the fact you have fairly poor photos puts me off - but if it hadnt been on the market for so long id probably have gone for a look - thats how i got my house , really bad photos and description but went to view it and it was what i was looking for almost exactly

The cost of running that house would put me off , its big , its probably going to be poorly insulated- it certainly doesnt mention anything to make me think different , its singleglazed - in todays world insulation and energy efficiency are big sellers.

think also about the type of folk who are buying these houses , the "ladder" as the government have conditioned folk to think. 10 years ago that house would have been snapped up in a sinch , modernised and turned round at huge profit. These days that house will be modernised to live in and be lucky to get back what it sold for - with folk using zoopla etc to see what it sold for before that and trying to make offers UNDER THAT price.

Hence why folk are keen to buy new properties needing nothing as they represent less risk for them.

Looks OK to me. Obviously needs updating and decorating to taste but it's not that bad. The lounge looks pretty dated, is there a better room to photograph? Maybe borrow a modern TV from a neighbour for a photo so it doesn't look quite so stuck in the 90s The office is a bit tired and single use. I'd take down the curtains (and maybe replace with plain white ones from Ikea), rip out the desk units and replace with a free standing desk and a sofa bed so people can see it as a more useful extra space. Again take down the curtains in the kitchen. All that will hardly cost anything.

I don't like the aerial shot. Its actually a big house on a good size plot and not overlooked but the aerial makes it look a bit compacted.

As above it really needs a layout tweak. Turning the front bathroom into an en-suite looks easy, knocking the kitchen through to the diner might be a bit more work.

Personally I'd take it off the market for a month or two, do some minor updating/neutralising then put it back for a bit of fresh interest.

Gutted I missed the zoopla link, from the other properties it looks like I grew up on that road and parents still live there. I possibly may even know you. The best estate agent in the area was Carl who managed the place by the malt house near mill street. We wanted to sell a relatives house quickly and for market price and he advised us on what to do (ie decor) and it sold in 3 months.

But no, I'm starting to realise that most people look on the internet and rule out properties very quickly just by the first impression, and that's where we've been falling down.

of course they do. It's reserach and a lot easier than trudging around a whole lot of unsuitable buildings.
People will also select on photos (do I need to do a lot) and price.
You seem to be getting upset with people commenting on the price - but a) it hasn't sold b) by everyones comments it's not being marketed well c) and it looks dated

I'm looking to buy a house in the next 12 months. I would pay top dollar - if it is finished to an excellent standard, and I like the taste and decor (cos it will save me time etc). But I will go and look at the good ones, at the right price and that look good.

Not many houses are coming on to the market at the moment so when a good one in a good area comes on it will get snapped up very quickly.

In the 5 square miles of sheffield where we live it is certainly a sellers market. We sold our house in 2 weeks for above asking price, next door sold theirs before it even went up on rightmove just from the board outside the house.

A nice house in the area and you can almost pick your price. But anything that either isn't in the right area or isn't perfect and it will hang around for ages and buyers can expect to get at least 10% of the asking price.